-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan has described how the unfolding crisis in Haiti revived harrowing memories of a similar earthquake in his own region .

The devastating 7.6 magnitude quake struck northern Pakistan and the divided Kashmir region in October 2005 , claiming the lives of almost 80,000 people , according to official estimates , and leaving millions homeless .

Khan , who is now a prominent politician and campaigner for social issues in Pakistan , told CNN Thursday that he was left numbed by the scenes which greeted him as he traveled to some of the worst-affected areas in the aftermath .

`` It was one of the most traumatic experiences I 've ever had . Just watching human suffering , he said . `` It was the children that really disturbed me ... their crushed limbs .

`` There were so many people needing attention . I remember seeing makeshift hospitals where they were amputating . That was difficult to take .

`` Families were torn apart as parents lost their children and children were orphaned . Whole families were caught inside buildings , while few escaped . ''

Khan recalled being overwhelmed by the sight of an entire town being reduced to rubble .

`` We arrived in the town of Balakot and it was totally flattened . You do n't know what to do or say . So many people needing help at one time and you do n't have the infrastructure , you do n't have the hospitals to help . ''

Desperation grips Haitian capital

Balakot was one of the worst-hit places , with one in 10 of about 20,000 residents killed , according to the local government of the Mansehra district , where the town of is located . Thousands more were injured .

Pakistani authorities later planned to move the town in the country 's North West Frontier Province to a completely new location , owing to its current position on a volatile fault line .

The destruction of Balakot brought home to Khan how much people had lost . `` Their livelihoods disappeared overnight , '' he said . `` They had nothing , no business , money , food .

`` From what I 've seen on television it 's similar to what is happening now in Haiti . Clearly they -LRB- Haiti -RRB- wo n't have the resources to cope with it , so it will require a real outside effort . ''

While acknowledging the importance of the international aid effort , Khan pointed to role ordinary Pakistanis played in 2005 . `` It was incredible . The government was incapacitated but there were little charities and groups forming all over the area trying to help .

`` I was in an earthquake-hit area on the second day and I 'll never forget seeing a three-mile queue of people trying to get to what was a largely remote area to help with whatever they could put in their cars .

`` The government was paralyzed but people came forward , from rich to poor , young to old . ''

He also pointed to the success volunteer networks had in adopting villages and towns , taking responsibility for providing basic shelter , food and medicine . `` Everyone took responsibility , '' recalled Khan .

`` Each group would look after a specific issue until the local population was able to get back on its feet .

`` It 's so important that the aid effort continues months after the disaster . ''

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Earthquake struck northern Pakistan , divided Kashmir region in 2005 , claiming 80,000 lives

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Imran Khan recalled being overwhelmed by the sight of an entire town being reduced to rubble

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Khan : `` Their livelihoods disappeared overnight . They had nothing , no business , money , food ''

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The politician and former cricketer said Haitians must be supported in the longer term